Table of Contents
Foreword Howard Johnson 3
Introduction 13
1 First Overall Pick Plays 0 Major League Games 17
2 Patient Olerud Bats .354 20
3 Fonzie Bats a Fantastic .444 24
4 Wally Backman's .989 Fielding Percentage 28
5 There's Only 1 David Wright 32
6 1.2%: The Strawberry Snub 36
7 Swoboda's 2 Home Runs Trump Carlton's 19 Strikeouts 41
8 2 Years at the Polo Grounds 44
9 Tom Seaver Wins 3 Cy Young Awards 46
10 Not a Typo: Rey Ordonez Made Only 4 Errors in '99 53
11 Hometown Hero Baxter Draws 5 Walks 58
12 Keith Hernandez Wins 5 Gold Gloves 59
13 Mets Blow 7-Game Lead and Glavine Surrenders 7 62
14 Delgado Drives in 9 65
15 Tom Terrific Strikes Out 10 in a Row, 19 Overall 68
16 Gary Carter's 11 Postseason RBI 72
17 Matt Harvey's 11-Strikeout Debut 78
18 The Year Felix Millan Struck Out Only 14 Times 81
19 Ventura's 15th Inning "Grand Slam Single" 84
20 Mets Sign 17-Year-Old Dominican Phenom Juan Lagares 88
21 Marvelous Marv's 17 Errors at First 91
22 Amazin' for 18 Seasons: Ed Kranepool 93
23 Doc Wins 24 98
24 No. 24 Was a 24-Time All-Star 102
25 Mets Lose 25-Inning Game 105
26 Anthony Young's 27-Game Losing Streak 108
27 Dickey's Scoreless Streak Reaches 32.2 Innings 111
28 Workhorse Fisher First Met to Start 36 Games 115
29 Todd Hundley's Record-Breaking 41 Home Runs 118
30 Bob Murphy: 42 Years Behind the Mike 123
31 Reviled Benitez Earns 43 Saves 126
32 New York's First Subway World Series in 44 Years 129
33 45 Seasons at Shea 135
34 45 Things We'll Never Forget About Shea Stadium 139
35 63 Plunks and 0 Regrets for Al Leiter 142
36 Despite 82 Wins, "Ya Gotta Believe!" 147
37 90 Percent of the Game is Mental. The Other Half is Physical 152
38 Overworked Feltciano Takes the Mound 92 Times 156
39 Piersall's 100th Career Home Run 160
40 Nolan Ryan Walks 116 Batters 163
41 deGrom Strikes Out 144, Wins Rookie of the Year 167
42 145 Whiffs: Mo Vaughn Strikes Out as a Met 171
43 Dave Kingman's 156 Strikeouts 174
44 Sidd Finch's 168 MPH Fastball 177
45 "Hitman" Lance Johnson Bags 227 179
46 John Franco's 276 Saves 181
47 Piazza Becomes Home Run King Among Catchers with No. 352 185
48 Tommie Agee's 480-Foot Blast 190
49 Jose Reyes: Mets Record 696 At-Bats 194
50 Omar Minaya Flies 2,800 Miles to Fire Willie Randolph 199
51 Roberto Clemente, Jon Matlack, and Hit No. 3,000 202
52 4,800 Pounds. That's a Big Apple 205
53 Bobby V Fined $5,000 for Dugout Disguise 208
54 8,019 Games Without a No-Hitter 211
55 56,188 See First Mets-Yankees Interleague Game 215
56 42,000,000 Reasons You Can't Forget Bobby Bonilla 219
Sources 222
Acknowledgments 224
